1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a heat-print device for a stamp unit, and particularly to a heat-print device for performing perforation-printing in a dot pattern on a print face portion of heat sensitive stencil paper of a stamp unit and performing heat-printing in a dot pattern on a heat-sensitive sheet on the surface of a platen portion of a dummy stamp unit.
2. Description of Related Art
There have been hitherto utilized various kinds of stamps, each of which serves to print a company name, an address or other character arrays on the surface of a sheet, having a print face portion formed of rubber.
These types of stamps are individually made to order. Thus, their price is expensive and an user must wait for a long time to receive the stamp after ordering.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,725, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, the applicant proposed a stamping stencil which mainly contains a heat sensitive stencil paper and an ink-impregnated member which is impregnated with ink. The ink-impregnated member and a frame, surrounding the ink-impregnated member, are adhesively attached on one side to a synthetic resin film and the heat sensitive stencil paper is adhesively attached on the other surface of the ink-impregnated member and the frame.
A stamp unit comprising a stamp member and a stamping stencil is obtained by adhesively attaching the stamping stencil on the lower surface of the base portion of the stamp member, having a grip portion, through a cushion member and perforating the heat sensitive stencil paper to form a pattern, such as a character array, using a thermal head or the like.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,581, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, this applicant proposed a stamp device comprising a stamp unit and a heat print device for perforating a print face portion of the stamp unit, the latter formed of heat sensitive stencil paper.
The stamp unit comprises a grip portion and a body case. A supply reel and a take-up reel are accommodated in the body case and serve to supply and wind a tape-shaped heat sensitive stencil paper. An ink pad which is part of the stamp unit, contacts the perforated heat sensitive stencil paper.
The heat print device includes a print mount portion on which the stamp unit is freely detachably mounted, a feed mechanism for feeding the heat sensitive stencil paper of the stamp unit, a thermal head for perforating the heat sensitive stencil paper of the stamp unit, a keyboard, and a controller for controlling the feed mechanism and the thermal head so that the heat sensitive stencil paper is perforated to form a character array which is input through the keyboard.
According to the stamp device, when the print face portion of the stamp unit is perforated to form a desired character-array pattern by the heat print device, ink is automatically supplied from the ink pad inside of the stamp unit to the print face portion, so that the print can be performed many times without coating external ink on the print face portion.
Further, the applicant has improved the stamp unit in the latter stamp device as described above, and is now practically implementing an improved stamp unit whose print face portion is formed of an ink-impregnated member and a heat sensitive stencil paper which is fixedly covered on the surface of the ink-impregnated member. The improved stamp unit includes a grip portion, a stamp portion fixed to the lower end of the grip portion and a print face portion (comprising an ink-impregnated member and a heat sensitive stencil paper) on the lower surface of the stamp portion.
When the print face portion of the improved stamp unit is perforated to form a character array thereon, a desired character array is not formed in a printable state when data of the character array to be input to the heat print device is defective. In this case, the stamp unit is unusable and useless.
In view of the foregoing, applicant has practically implemented a dummy stamp unit which has substantially the same shape as the stamp unit as described above and in which a heat sensitive sheet is allowed to be set up on the surface of a platen portion corresponding to the print face portion as described above. Also applicant has been practically implementing an improved stamp device in which the dummy stamp unit as described above is installed into the heat print device to conduct a heat print on the heat sensitive sheet of the dummy stamp unit prior to the perforation print of the character array on the print face portion of the improved stamp unit to verify the data.
The perforation print of a character array on the print face portion of the stamp unit is performed using a character array of mirror characters. If the heat print is also performed on the heat sensitive sheet of the dummy stamp unit in accordance with the same print data as the perforation print, the character array of the mirror letters are printed on the heat sensitive sheet. Thus there is a problem that the character array, the character size, a print state such as an arrangement of the character array, and other characteristics of the print data cannot be surely and properly determined because the mirror characters are difficult to interpret.